Katie Couric gets engaged

September 4, 2013 12:01 AM

September 4, 2013 12:01 AM

Katie Couric and John Molner attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit celebrating "PUNK: Chaos to Couture" on Monday, May 6, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)Invision

Katie Couric is getting married to her financier boyfriend John Molner.

Molner gave 56-year-old Couric, the former host of "Today," a diamond ring over the weekend in East Hampton. Molner, 50, is a partner at investment firm Brown Brothers Harriman, who oversees mergers and acquisitions advisory work for the firm's corporate clients.

The couple has dated nearly two years.

Couric's late husband Jay Monahan died in 1998 from colon cancer. She is the mother of two daughters, now 21 and 17.

Her talk show, "Katie," starts its second season on Monday.

Douglas calls split 'temporary separation'

Actor Michael Douglas said he doesn't have a crisis at home and that he and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones "are fine" and taking a "temporary separation."

Speaking in Berlin on Monday while promoting his Liberace film, "Behind the Candelabra," Douglas said, "My wife and I are, are fine. We're taking a temporary separation, but it gives the press stuff to write about."

Zeta-Jones, 43, and Douglas, 68, were married in 2000. They have two children.

Howard's documentary to air Oct. 11 on Showtime

Ron Howard's "Made in America" documentary about the Jay-Z-curated music festival in Philadelphia will air Oct. 11 on Showtime.

Jay-Z's "Budweiser Made in America" festival debuted on Labor Day weekend in 2012. About 50,000 fans attended the two-day event. Performers included Pearl Jam, Drake, Run DMC, Skrillex, D'Angelo and Calvin Harris.

Howard's documentary is described as a backstage pass to the event. It includes some of the performers' stories on how they are "making it in America." It will debut Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Valerie Harper gets close to remission

Valerie Harper's doctor said the actress' brain cancer is getting close to remission.

The 74-year-old former sitcom star had announced in March that she had an incurable form of cancer and was given as little as three months to live. She's still here -- and working, hired for a TV movie that filmed this month.

Dr. Jeremy Rudnick said that Harper has defied the odds. But he said the problem is that Harper's prognosis can change at any time.

He and Harper agree that life is about buying time.

Voight paid peanuts for 'Midnight Cowboy'

It was Jon Voight's portrayal of male prostitute Joe Buck in the 1969 film "Midnight Cowboy" that put him on the path to becoming an acting legend. Now he said he was paid a pittance for the part.

Voight said he wanted the role so badly he told his agent, "'Tell them I'll do this part for nothing.'" The actor said to his surprise, "they took me at my word and they gave me the minimum for 'Midnight Cowboy.'"

Voight spoke as he was promoting his film "Getaway" co-starring Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez, and "Ray Donovan," the Showtime series he appears in opposite Liev Schreiber.

The Oscar- and Emmy-winning actor said the studio United Artists "even sent me a $14.73 coffee shop charge," for meals his last day of shooting for the film in Texas. But Voight said he had no regrets. "I knew what it meant. It was going to give me a career and I was right."

Film box office up 10.2 percent

Despite some spectacular flops, Hollywood's summer concluded with a record $4.7 billion in box-office revenue.

The summer movie season closed out on Labor Day weekend as the boy band concert film "One Direction: This Is Us" took in an estimated $18 million. That wasn't enough to unseat "Lee Daniels' The Butler," which stayed on top with $20 million.

It was a positive note to end the summer for Hollywood. The box office saw a 10.2 percent increase over last summer, with attendance rising 6.6 percent.